ProBoards Blog

We scoured the internet last week and collected a group of articles that cover a lot of ground. Here is the lay of the land in this week’s community resource roundup.

From the very beginning, community creators need to draft a basic outline of their forum rules. These rules need to be clearly defined, and located in an accessible place on the forum when you have finished building your community.

“Regardless of how many open or closed spaces your online community has, a clear, consistent set of community rules is essential to establishing a safe space for all members and stakeholders who participate. ”

Rewarding members can be a double edged sword if you don’t consider the behavior that you are trying to get out of your members. Use this guide to help you define your reward strategy.

“A good reward scheme identifies a desired outcome and creates a reward, based upon human motivation, which changes an individual’s behavior over the long-term. A bad reward scheme will do neither.”

If you want to increase engagement within your community, you need to be out among your members leading the way. Conduct yourself in the same manner as a party host: make new people feel welcome, point people in the right direction, and help facilitate the conversation.

“Getting people to interact with others and upload content to a community-driven site enough may sound easy, but engagement doesn’t happen automatically. It takes time and work, and much of the right formula is deduced through trial and error.”

Okay. This article was a little self-indulgent. I mean come on! How often do you see an article use the experience of your favorite local pub to explain how to monetize your forum? Raise your glasses to this one. Cheers!

“Just like your favorite local bar, the people who come to your forum are looking for comfort and familiarity, without the glitz and glamour. Achieve that and you’ll have a much greater chance of plugging leaks in your monetization strategy and raising your ad income.”

How do you deal with conflict on your forum? Sometimes it can arise from a simple moment of miscommunication. Use this article to get some useful tips so that you know how to quell the fire before it gets too hot.

“As a Community Manager, your first reaction to conflict might be stamp on it through moderation and banning, but you must remember that you don’t want to create an atmosphere where people feel their views are being suppressed.”